Neighbours
by Uxie22
Summary: Having succeeded in taking down the Black Organisation, Shinichi thinks that she could use a break from catching criminals and tangling with murderers and moves from the Kudo Manor to rest. What she doesn't count on is the appearance of a strange magician in her life...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Shinichi lay in her bed, staring up at the ceiling drowsily. Outside, there was a faint patter as a shower of rain fell, the quiet sound lulling her further into sleep. Feeling over-heated, she rolled over, pulling her duvet further up her chin, and a waft of cool air brushed her ankle as her foot was uncovered._

_Suddenly, she was jolted into wakefulness as her ankle was seized in a strong, cold grip. Before she could move, there was a suffocating weight on her chest as an unseen figure straddled her and grabbed her throat in an inhuman grip. Mouth gaping open for a breath that couldn't come, she stared up into the snarling, triumphant face of Gin._

_"Time's up, detective", he hissed, a grin lighting up his face as he raised a knife above his head-_

* * *

Shinichi woke up with a start, heart pounding. She lay frozen, mind racing despite the heavy blanket of sleep still thrown over it, blue eyes wide as she tried to figure out what exactly had woken her. Was someone in her apartment? Her room? Were they standing over her even now, gun gripped tight in black gloved hands, ready to-

A muffled thud came from her right through the wall, and she slumped in relief. Nothing to worry about. It was just her neighbour again with their strange late night activities. Shinichi hurriedly rolled out of bed and padded out of the room before any other sounds could filter through and inform her just what those late night activities were- she'd never heard any moaning or even a sign that there was more than one person in the room, but there was a first time for everything.

She winced at the coldness of her tiny kitchen floor as she walked across it. She glanced at the clock, noting that the time was 4:00am, as it usually is for people waking from a nightmare. She knew that she should go back to bed, slip back into blissful unconsciousness, but the adrenaline was still racing around her system, and she was cold and sticky with sweat. She sighed and made herself a cup of herbal tea that Ran had assured her had relaxing qualities. It tasted like perfume and was the colour of strong urine, but Shinichi was willing to drink it if it afforded her a few more hours of sleep. She settled down in front of her TV on the sofa and pulled a throw over herself. 4am TV- nothing but old reruns and toddler cartoons, but she would take it. She could still hear muffled thumps coming from next door and the occasional swear word. She turned the volume up.

Despite her fragile optimism, she didn't get any more sleep that night.

* * *

A/N

Well, here's the first chapter of my new story :) The majority of you asked for fem!Shinichi x fem!Kaito, so here it is. Please forgive the somewhat lame title, but titles have never been my strong point. I may edit it and the blurb a little later.  
I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this story- it may have some supernatural elements , it may not. I guess we'll see.

Please review, I'd like to know what you all think about this ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Shinichi exited her apartment, carefully locking the door behind her. She exchanged a nod and smile with her elderly neighbour, who was shuffling through his front door, arms laden with groceries. She had only moved in a week or two ago but was already getting used to the place. It was a prettier building than she had expected, with good security and light, airy rooms. Living alone was something that she was used to, but the people there all seemed surprisingly friendly and polite-even the children that she sometimes passed in the hallways were nice, calling greetings in high, piping voices. She remembered being the same height only a month or two ago, speaking in the same manner, playing with children just like them. It gave her a strangely nostalgic feeling.

She sighed and shook the feeling off, pulling the key from the lock. She paused in the act of walking away, looking at the door on her other side. There were no noises coming from there now, no evidence that there was anyone living on the other side of the door. It was mildly confusing, slightly worrying. She felt curiosity stirring in her head. Should she knock on the door and see if they were alright? What if the noises coming from there every other night were not the product of a neighbour engaging in sexual activities, but the noise of a struggle? Should she check up on them?

After a second or two, she dismissed the idea. She'd moved there to relax and heal, and even if the physical wounds were more or less gone, the mental ones weren't. Curiosity had got her into far more embarrassing and dangerous situations than she could count- maybe now would be a good time to ignore it. Besides, she'd never met that neighbour, and wasn't sure that she even wanted to. Someone who made such a racket at night obviously wasn't concerned about the thoughts and feelings of other people- she had the feeling that her concern wouldn't be kindly met.

Feeling a little odd for leaving this mystery unexplored, she turned and left.

* * *

Kaito stared at the yellow stains on her hands and gloomily wondered if they would ever come out.

The night before hadn't exactly been restful. She had been up until the early hours of the morning writing the next heist note (which had taken _hours_ to do) and had then accidentally stepped on a box of her newest paint bombs on the way to bed. The sound of them all exploding one after the other, one explosion setting the next one off in a bizarre multi-coloured chain reaction, and her subsequent cursing, had probably woken the entire building. She had paused in the act of scrubbing frantically at the paint decorating the walls of her room when the thought of an irate neighbour calling the police on her occurred to her, but had only heard the faint sound of some late night rerun on TV through the walls. Maybe her neighbour was a night owl anyway?

"Kaito", came a voice from behind her, "what happened to your hands?"

Kaito twisted in her seat to look at her childhood friend, Aoko. The school girl was standing by her own desk, staring the bright yellow stains covering Kaito's hands in confusion and mild concern.

Kaito sent her a bright grin, trying to play it off. "I was trying to repaint my room, but I guess I forgot to wear gloves", she said sheepishly.

Aoko raised an eyebrow. "You were trying to paint your room neon yellow?"

"It would help me get up in the morning! I need to be energetic and ready to face the world!"

"You're too energetic as it is", Aoko muttered, sitting at her desk.

Kaito beamed at her. "Thank you, Aoko! That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me!"

"BaKaito! That wasn't a compliment!"

"Really? Well, I guess I've decided to take it as one."

"Idiot", Aoko said scathingly, tensing in her seat.

Kaito looked at her calculatingly. Usually, banter like this would lead to a prank of some sort, or maybe a flip of Aoko's skirt...

... but she had a heist to attend to. Better to conserve her energy for that night.

"Kaito?" Now Aoko was looking at her with concern. She, too, had been thinking of their usual routine.

Kaito stretched and yawned, not really having to pretend that she was tired. "The class will be starting soon, Ahoko. You'd better get your books out."

Aoko slammed her hand flat on her desk, making the bag resting on it jump. "BAKAITO! Don't call me that!"

Kaito grinned.

* * *

"Shinichi!" Ran's voice broke through Shinichi's consciousness, causing her to jerk upright. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes", Shinichi lied, not very convincingly by the look on Ran's face.

"I swear to God, you're useless", her childhood friend sighed, flipping a lock of dark hair over her shoulder. "Here I am, taking you out on the weekend and treating you to a lovely meal, and you don't even have the decency to listen to me speak. And you haven't even touched your meal!"

Shinichi looked down at the plate before her and skewered a slice of cucumber. Ran waited until she had put it into her mouth before talking again.

"You know, you haven't been looking well recently. Have you been getting enough sleep?"

Shinichi swallowed the vegetable. "I've been getting some."

Ran looked dissatisfied with this. "Just how much is 'some'?"

Shinichi shrugged, stabbing another slice with her fork and avoiding her eyes. "More than I was getting before."

"Well, at least you're improving", Ran muttered.

Shinichi chewed her food and tried to ignore the concerned look Ran was shooting her.

Ever since she had returned to her original size, Ran had stuck by her like glue, inviting Shinichi to outings with other people from her school, showing up on her doorstep and pulling her to the park, to go swimming at a leisure centre, to come with her to the library and help with her homework. It was if as she thought that if she let her friend out of her sight for too long she would disappear without a trace. Not that it wasn't a legitimate worry, given Shinichi's sudden and unreliable reappearances and disappearances over the past two years. The detective knew that Ran was poised for her to leave again, and that she was meeting with her as frequently as possible to try to make her stay. It didn't help that Shinichi couldn't tell Ran the reason why she had been gone for so long, no matter how much she wanted to.

Shinichi liked meeting with Ran, but she always ended up feeling guilty.

"Anyway", Ran continued, snapping her from her reverie, "as I was saying, there's a new Kaitou KID heist coming up."

Shinichi frowned "Kaitou who?"

"Kaitou KID. You know, that thief that tells people what he's going to steal before he steals it."

Shinichi continued to stare at her friend blankly. Kaitou KID? She could vaguely remember her father talking about someone like that... "You mean the one who does flashy tricks to confuse the police?"

"Yes, that's the one! You haven't heard of him before? I would have thought that he'd have caught your attention long ago."

Shinichi shrugged, poking a leaf of lettuce with her fork. "I deal with homicide, not thefts", she said simply.

Ran rolled her eyes. "You're so morbid. Anyway, he's throwing a heist soon- it's actually quite near here."

Shinichi continued to pick at her food. "Yeah? You want to go?", she replied disinterestedly.

"Actually, it's Sonoko that wants to go. You know how she is with men in suits", Ran said, a little too casually. An alarm rang in the detective's head.

Shinichi looked up sharply, her eyes narrowing. "Let me guess", she said, "she's dragging you along with her, and you'd like _someone_ to come along and keep you company."

Ran gave her a dazzling smile, one that would have Shinichi's stomach flip and her cheeks flush once upon a time. "If you would be so kind", she said, her voice as sweet as the peal of a bell.

"No", Shinichi said flatly, sitting back in her seat. "No way. I am not going to a heist with you and the fan girl extraordinaire."

"Oh, come on!", Ran wailed, giving up on the dazzling smile. "You've _got_ to come with me! You know what Sonoko's like, she won't take no for an answer!" Suddenly aware that she had been talking about her friend in less of a flattering light, she added, "Not that I don't like being with her, I just-"

"Don't you like Kaitou KID?", Shinichi asked curiously, trying to steer the conversation from Sonoko.

"I- well, I like the tricks he does", Ran said, momentarily distracted by the question. "They can be really beautiful sometimes. But I don't like the crowds, and I don't want to be stuck somewhere waiting for the heist to begin with _just_ Sonoko for company. It'll be cold and wet and I want more people I know." She looked at Shinichi with pleading, pretty blue eyes wide, her brow furrowed. "_Please_, Shinichi. I'd really like you to come, and I honestly think that it will do you good to go to this heist. I know you like mysteries, and Kaitou KID is one of the biggest ones in Japan!"

Shinichi looked at her friend, seeing the worry in her eyes. She wavered, torn between wanting to stay away from an obviously pointless excursion, and wiping that look of worry and concern from Ran's face.

She sighed.

"No", she said.

Ran's expression darkened and her hands fisted, and Shinichi suddenly remembered that her friend was a black belt in karate. She leaned back from the table with enough force that her chair skidded a few inches away, her hands flying up in a gesture of surrender.

"I'll go!, she squeaked. "I'll go to the heist with you!"

Ran's hand dropped and her face became wreathed in smiles again. "Really? Oh, thank you, Shinichi! KID's heists are actually really entertaining- I promise you'll have fun."

Despite the near-death experience Shinichi had just had, seeing Ran's face light up like a Christmas tree made her glad that she had chosen to go after all.

* * *

Ran had lied. This was terrible.

Shinichi looked around gloomily, the crowd pressing in on her at all sides. Shoulders and elbows jostled her roughly, and the sound of hundreds of people talking, cheering, and (for some reason) chanting felt deafening. Ran and Sonoko pushed their way through it all, both evidently used to the sound and sheer amount of people, Ran holding tightly onto her hand to keep them from getting separated. A light sheet of rain drifted down onto them, cold and misty.

"We're here!", Sonoko called back to them, and Shinichi was pulled from the crowd and up the steps of the building before them. She glanced back at the mass of people who were being held back by several men in combat uniform.

"Should we be going inside?", she asked, feeling puzzled. She let go of Ran's hand to squeeze the water from her hair.

"A friend of mine's father is the head of the taskforce in charge of catching KID", Sonoko explained, grabbing her arm to pull her onwards. "She said we could come. Well, she said _I_ could come, but I'm sure she won't mind me bringing you guys along."

"Taskforce? Kaitou KID has his own taskforce?" Shinichi allowed herself to be towed along, aware that she was trailing water and mud over the pretty carpets inside the front hall. Blessed warmth washed over her, and she felt her spirits lift a little.

"Yeah, because he's really hard to catch." Sonoko shot a grin at her over her shoulder, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "My KID-sama is the best thief in the world- he might as well be called the king of thieves!"

_KID-sama?_

"And that's meant to be a good thing?", she asked.

"We're here!", Sonoko sang, ignoring Shinichi's comment. They went through a set of doors into a room filled with men like the ones they had seen outside- bulky with black padded uniform and wearing helmets with visors that were currently pulled up. In the middle of it all was a moustachioed man in a grey suit and tie, barking orders at the taskforce from under his bristly facial hair. Shinichi winced as a particularly loud yell reached her ears.

"Oh, looks like Aoko-chan isn't here yet", Sonoko said, sounding a little disappointed.

"Is she a Kaitou KID fan too?", Shinichi asked, dreading an affirmative.

"No, she's pretty much anti-KID", Sonoko said, her nose wrinkling a little. "But when you get around that, she's a really nice person." She spoke as though not liking the antics of a thief was a major personality failing.

Shinichi grimaced and looked at Ran, who smiled at her. "Exciting, isn't it?", she said cheerfully, having to raise her voice a little to be heard over the noise.

Shinichi supposed that she agreed. There was an electric feeling of anticipation in the air, and it was rising with each passing second. It felt as though there was a pressure building up in the room, leading up to an explosion of some sort.

Speaking of building pressure...

Shinichi tapped Ran on her shoulder and tried to say quietly, "I'm going to the toilet."

"What?", Ran yelled over the growing noise.

"I said I'm going to the toilet! I'll be back in a second!"

"What?"

Shinichi gave up and walked towards the door, aware of other people pouring into the room. Were they letting the fans in? How were they all going to fit into the room?

Shinichi walked into the hallway and set off to find the toilets.

* * *

Five minutes later, Shinichi was thoroughly lost. She had got directions from an embarrassed taskforce member (why was he embarrassed? Everybody needed to pee at some point), and then followed a series of signs to the toilets. It was a pretty place, all white tiles and lightly perfumed, and Shinichi took her time in there, unwilling to return to the fan-filled room and the ear-drum-crushing noise. Eventually, she had sighed and decided that it was time to go back.

That was when she got lost. She had retraced her footsteps for about five minutes before realizing that she must have taken a wrong turning or two since leaving the toilets. She had tried to double back but ended up in a section of the building that she hadn't even seen before. She had heard before that the owner of the place collected such jewels as the one Kaitou KID was after, but she hadn't realized the extent of the man's passion for shiny rocks. There were display cases in several of the rooms leading off from the corridor she had found herself in, some of them climate-controlled to prevent damage to the treasures inside. Shinichi wandered out of a room filled with stacks of paper- this guy really needed to sort out his filing system- and looked around hopelessly. She wasn't really worried about missing KID's heist, considering that he seemed to be just an overly-arrogant thief (what was with those heist notes? Just how cocky do you have to be to notify the police of when you intend to steal?), but she knew that Ran would probably karate-kick her into the next week if she missed it. No way would she believe that she had got lost- it just didn't fit in with her genius detective image.

_Damn my complete lack of a sense of direction._

Shinichi opened another door and peeked in. The room, like all of the other ones, was empty. Another display case stood in the middle of the room, the jewel within it twinkling gently in the light from the hallway. Shinichi let the door swing closed behind her and walked up to the case, squinting slightly through the gloom to see what it was. It was hard to tell in this light, but it was... red? It was cut prettily into a multi-faceted shape, vaguely rounded so that it looked like a huge red egg. Was it a ruby? Could you get rubies that big?

Well, the jewel sure was pretty, but that didn't change the fact that the room didn't lead to an exit. Shinichi, now having given up on getting back to the heist on time to see the thief, turned away and walked to the door.

There was a clang from behind her.

Shinichi jumped, adrenaline immediately shooting through her viens and making her heart pump. She whirled around, backing up until she was pressed against the wall. She had forgotten where the door was, and one hand groped for it while she stared into the darkness. Was there a light switch in the room? Shinichi wasn't entirely sure that she actually wanted to see what had made the noise. She could just make out a rectangle on the far wall that seemed darker than the wall around it. An air vent?

Her question was answered when the grill of the vent was punched outwards, skidding against the floor until it hit the bottom of the display case. A figure dressed in white emerged from the hole in the wall, straightening to reveal a top hat and a mantle that unfurled prettily, strangely unstained by its trip through an air vent.

KID grinned and said, "And there we have a successful infiltration!"

Shinichi gaped at the figure that smirked to itself with self congratulations.

_Uh oh._

* * *

A/N

Sooo, this is my second chapter. You like? Drop me a review to let me know ^.^

Also, I've noticed something about most Detective Conan fanfics- Shinichi is almost always portrayed as really quiet, a late sleeper with a birdlike appetite, and a strong wish to be as far away from other humans as possible. Why is that? If it's canon, then I totally missed it. So, I'm going to try to avoid those characteristics a little :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Shinichi stood frozen in surprise, watching the thief loudly congratulate himself. He gave a grunt and stretched, his back arching, the bones popping audibly and illustrating just how tight a fit that air vent must have been.

"Well, better get to work!", he said cheerily and rubbed his hands, his one visible eye fixed on the display case.

It dawned on Shinichi that the thief hadn't seen her. Either his sight hadn't adjusted to the dark yet, or she had been so still and so quiet that his eyes had just passed over her without registering her presence. He was crouched before the display case now, resting on his haunches, and a clink of metal revealed to her that he was trying to pick the lock.

Shinichi's eyes narrowed. Evidently the thief's heist note had lied, or he had misdirected the taskforce into believing that the jewel he was after was a different one, allowing him to just waltz in and take his pick. It was a simple, cunning plan, and it disappointed Shinichi. Where were the miraculous feats of wonder, the smoke bombs and confetti explosions Sonoko and Ran had told her about? After all the hype, the detective had been expecting _something_ amazing. And if she of all people, accused by many for being too cynical for her own good, was disappointed, then the actual fans wouldn't be pleased- no flashy tricks for them tonight.

Shinichi had a sudden mental image of Sonoko's face after missing Kaitou KID and frowned, feeling vaguely uncomfortable at the thought. Her friend was in for a big let-down.

Shinichi felt a little anger at the audacity of the thief for misdirecting his fans and upsetting her friends and waltzing in and stealing a jewel while she was _standing right there._ A surge of confidence erupted within her, righteousness straightening her spine and lifting her chest, and she had just opened her mouth to accost the damn thief when common sense made an appearance.

She was all alone in a dark room with a potentially dangerous thief. No one knew she was there, and she was unarmed without even a tranquilizing watch to even up the odds a little. There was nothing to throw and no weapon that could be used other than her fists. She bit her lip.

_Should I try to stop him myself?,_ Shinichi mused. _It's true that I'm strong, but who knows what tricks he has up his sleeves? He could hurt me, or kill me by sheer stupidity._ She looked around and added, _Plus, there's nothing for me to kick at him._

So. Taskforce it was.

By now she had located the door, but exiting the room would doubtless alert the thief to her presence. But maybe if she ran fast enough, she could lose him and eventually find a taskforce member to help? Shinichi could feel the adrenaline pumping and decided that it was a possibility. Hopefully it wouldn't run out.

Shinichi readied herself, tensing her muscles-

\- and realized that the thief was looking toward her.

"Hello?", said KID.

* * *

KID saw the vaguely human-shaped shadow freeze. She squinted, trying to make out a face, but the figure was pressed against the wall, drenched in the darkest of shadow. The reason KID had even noticed that anyone was there was the flash of moonlight against a pair of eyes when she had turned to check on the door.

The eyes blinked and narrowed slightly.

"I know you're there", KID said, grinning a little when it was obvious that she wasn't going to get a reply. Now that she knew that someone was there, she could hear the faintest sound of them breathing, the rustle of fabric as they shifted position. How were they so quiet? The thief usually noticed when someone was hiding from her straight away. "Are you with the taskforce? I guess Nakamori sent you to patrol?"

No answer.

"I guess that's typical of him. Pick out a taskforce member that's been a bit slack lately and send him to patrol." KID stood up, turning so that she was facing the person. "Either he'll have a boring night patrolling empty corridors, find me and get gassed, or- and this is pushing it a bit- find me and catch me, and redeem himself, right?"

The figure moved a little to the left. KID wondered where it was going.

"For you it will be the second option", KID said, stealthily pulling out a gas canister and holding it in her fist. "Find KID and get gassed." She paused to shoot the figure an apologetic grin as she pulled out her own gas mask. "Sorr-"

The figure darted forward and crashed into her, moving too fast for the thief to react. The mask and gas canister both flew out of her hands, clattering away out of sight. Gas spewed into the room, spiralling up into the air in a pretty pink cloud. KID grabbed at the figure as it scrambled off of her and ended up with a black winter jacket in her hands. There was a flash of light from the hallway as the door opened and KID rolled to her feet and ran the same way, holding her breath to avoid the effects of the gas. Too late now to grab the jewel, but the moonlight streaming in through the window had already confirmed that it was not what she was looking for. Still, she hated to leave empty-handed.

The door swung closed behind her and she saw the back of someone running away down the corridor, swaying slightly as they went. Evidently they hadn't been able to avoid breathing in some of the gas. She gave chase immediately, grinning at the notion that her role, the one of being chased, had now been reversed courtesy of the mystery figure. She rounded the corner and caught the boot that came swinging toward her. She grabbed her attacker's leg and yanked upwards, and there was a grunt as the owner of said leg hit the ground.

KID moved with the motion and fell on top of the figure, eliciting a gasp as her elbow jabbed their stomach. KID felt them weaken and she straddled the figure more comfortably, gripping their wrists to avoid getting punched. She looked down at them.

A slightly smaller girl lay gasping under her, struggling to recover from being winded. Her short dark hair was cut to jaw length, and she had sapphire-blue eyes, fringed with black lashes. Her face was pink and twisted with pain, but KID could see that she was fast recovering.

KID beamed down at her. "Aaw, I caught a cutie!", she cooed.

"Get off... me", the girl gasped. She gave a weak wriggle, trying to throw thief off.

KID increased the pressure. "Uh-uh, you don't want to do that."

The girl was glaring up at her now, her hands tightening into fists. KID could feel the muscles bunching underneath her, the girl's heart rate speeding up. "Get. Off. Me", she hissed. If looks could kill, KID would be on a slab.

"Why would I do that?" KID gave her a smug smirk that visibly increased the girls aggravation. "You're kind of comfy, you know."

The girl stopped struggling as it dawned on her that she couldn't throw the thief off. She glanced to the side, trying to look down the corridor, then muttered something under her breath that sounded vaguely like a question. KID frowned and leaned in a little. "What was that?"

The girl's forehead shot up and slammed into her chin, missing breaking her nose as KID tried to dodge. The thief clutched her chin, spitting blood from when she had bitten her tongue. The girl rolled out from under the thief and then kicked her between the legs with a expression of grim concentration. A feeling of breathlessness and sheer paralyzing pain overcame the thief, and KID fell onto her side and curled up, feeling unable to breathe, her eyes glazing over.

"Surprised? It works on girls too!", Shinichi said, and ran.

* * *

Shinichi sipped her morning coffee, her sight still blurry from sleep. Her eyelids drooped as she watched the news from her sofa.

_"And Kaitou KID strikes again! Last night, the phantom thief Kaitou KID held one of his world-famous heists in a bid to steal the Phoenix Egg, a priceless ruby coveted by jewel collectors for its unusually large size and unique cut",_ said the newscaster. She looked wired and excited, obviously a KID fan judging by the gleam in her eyes, and was standing outside the building from the night before. Shinichi watched her squint in the rising sun and didn't envy her one bit. She shivered and took another sip of coffee.

_"But",_ she went on, _"in a surprising turn of events, the skilled Kaitou KID was not foiled by the taskforce specifically to catch him, but by the teenage detective Shinichi Kudo, who has been hailed as a genius from the age of eleven."_

Shinichi groaned as her picture appeared on the television screen. It was a fairly old one of her looking with dignified smugness into the camera. She scowled at it.

_"Miss Kudo, who was unavailable for comment, has recently taken part in other victories for the law, such as taking a significant part in the closing of several unsolved homicide cases in the past few months, and working with the FBI for a two-year period on the disbandment of the crime syndicate, referred to as the Bla-"_

Shinichi turned the television off. She picked up a book and tried to read it instead, but couldn't concentrate enough to take in the print.

She thought back to the heist the night before. Ran had been right, she _did_ end up having fun, though perhaps not in the way her friend had pictured. Sure, she had been scared for a second or two in her brief meeting with KID, but Ran had explained the thief's 'no one gets hurt' policy that he- _she_ exercised at each heist on the way home. Plus, keeping the thief from getting the jewel had been oddly satisfying.

Shinichi couldn't help thinking about her little discovery. She remembered feeling mild confusion at KID's voice, the slight pitch in it that made it seem just a little more girlish that she had expected. She also remembered crashing into KID to avoid what she had been sure was some sort of dangerous weapon (which had instead turned out to be a canister of bright pink smoke) and feeling a little more flesh than she had been expecting under that white jacket. And then when KID had sat on her... well, a distinct _lack_ of something resting on her waist had pretty much settled it for her.

KID was a _woman_. Which was surprising to say the least. Hadn't anyone noticed yet? Hadn't anyone ever come close enough to notice the voice, the figure? Surely the taskforce, who had apparently been chasing the thief for years, had noticed something? Or was that just another disguise? Had Shinichi got it wrong?

She remembered managing to reach the hall the night before, and, ignoring the very confused crowd milling around, told the man who appeared to be in charge (Inspector Nakamori, if her memory was right) that she had encountered KID in a room on the other side of the building trying to steal a ruby. The Inspector, clearly disbelieving, had sent a taskforce member to check, who came back five minutes later saying that the room was filled with pink sleeping gas, but that there was no sign of KID.

"Damn him!" the inspector had bellowed, amongst the sounds of taskforce men thundering from the room, and Shinichi had opened her mouth to correct him before hesitating. She didn't want to say what she thought about KID's gender- supposing she was wrong? She didn't have all the facts yet. She had decided to keep it to herself until she was sure.

Now she was wondering if it wouldn't have been better if she had told the taskforce after all.

There was a faint noise of someone stamping up the stairwell to her floor, and Shinichi frowned in annoyance. If she had one complaint about the place, it was that the walls were too thin. Maybe there was some way to soundproof them?

Thinking about this made her remember her loud neighbour. They had been at it _again_ the night before, crashing around and slamming doors.

_Maybe I should go confront them, even if just to say that they're disturbing me. I can't just sit around having my sleep disturbed by suspect sounds every other night, right?_

With this in mind, Shinichi got to her feet and picked up the now empty cup to take it to the kitchen, mentally preparing to leave the apartment to see her neighbour.

The footsteps that had been growing louder and closer with each passing second sped up, and before Shinichi could register that they were right outside, a voice screamed, "BAKAITO!", and the door was kicked open.

* * *

A/N

I actually meant to update about a week ago, but then I got a job and all my plans went to hell -.-  
Never mind, it's here now~

Please review and tell me what you all think, constructive criticism is always helpful too ^.^


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Aoko kicked the door open with a scream of, "BAKAITO!" She heard a high-pitched shriek in return and the sound of something shattering, but continued regardless, storming into the apartment as she barked, "You DRAG me along to that STUPID KID heist and then DITCH me halfway through, and then the stupid thief _DOESN'T EVEN SHOW UP-"_

She stopped dead, her voice dying in her throat as she registered that the girl standing by the far wall and staring at her in confusion and anger wasn't her childhood friend. Pieces of what looked like a broken mug littered the floor by her feet; the handle was still intact and rocked back and forth with a quiet clinking sound.

"Uh...", she said, feeling her face heat up as she realized her mistake. Behind her, a piece of wood fell from the battered door.

"I _think_ you may have got the wrong apartment", said Kaito from behind her.

* * *

Kaito looked on in amused silence as Aoko apologised profusely to her neighbour, silence being the safest option as long as she didn't want to get hit by Aoko's mop. She couldn't keep the grin off of her face though, and so she stood away from the two, leaning against the front door of the apartment. Aoko had kicked the door so hard that the door chain had been ripped from the frame. It was on the floor now, curled up like a disgruntled snake, surrounded by splinters and bits of polished wood.

Kaito was still in her pyjamas, unlike Aoko, who was dressed for the cold weather in a coat and scarf, and the girl, who was wearing a long baggy jumper and not much else. As though hearing this observation of Kaito's (or maybe she had been staring?), the girl left their sight quickly, disappearing through a different doorway.

Kaito had been interrupted from watching the morning news by what sounded like a bomb going off, and had rolled from her spot on the sofa to see what the noise was. The sound of Aoko shouting had only increased her hurry to see the commotion. She had pulled on a pair of shoes and peeked out into the hallway to see her neighbour's door hanging open, Aoko standing just inside the room, frozen with mortification. It didn't take a genius to work out what had happened.

Now the thief was standing in the room, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Aoko turned to Kaito, her face still pink with embarrassment.

"Let me guess", Kaito said, smirking and flicking a bit of grit from her eye away, "She's going to make you pay for the door?" She'd seen that look the girl had given Aoko, when she peeped in. Strange though, she looked oddly familiar with that dark head of hair and those blue eyes.

_Then again, she is my neighbour. I probably just saw her in the hallway or something. _Kaito ignored whatever her subconscious mind was screaming (something about teenage detectives and a heist?) in order to focus on her friend.

"Uh... no", said Aoko, looking a little puzzled at this. "She said that the other locks weren't on and so weren't damaged, so she'll just use them instead."

Kaito turned to look at the door again, this time noting four different other locks affixed to the door. She blinked at them- why would one girl be so worried about security? But then again, if this was the first time she was living by herself then the paranoia was understandable. Still weird, but not as much as before.

"Still, strange of her just to let you off", Kaito said, turning back. "I know _I_ wouldn't."

Aoko gave her a dirty look. "_Actually", _she said, "she's okay with it because I know her friends. The people I was meant to be meeting up with last night- Ran and Sonoko- they're friends of hers too."

"At the heist? But you never found them." Kaito continued to ignore a growing uncomfortable feeling that had something to do with the word 'heist.' Something in her head was clanging, an alarm that usually only sounded when she was in danger.

"No, I lost them in the crowd. But Shinichi said she's meeting up with them today and that they'd be okay with us coming too", Aoko beamed. "You'd better get changed."

_Because there's no way Aoko wants to walk alone for any length of time with someone whose door she just broke down, _Kaito thought dryly.

The name set off further alarm bells. "Shinichi?" _That sounds familiar... and not in a good way._

"Yeah, Shinichi Kudo. The teenage detective? She was at the heist too last night- dad said she came really close to catching the thief, even managed to keep him from taking the jewel." Aoko paused and raised an eyebrow at her friend's puzzled. "Your _neighbour_, Kaito."

Kaito blanched as she realized the problem. She had a sudden flashback to the heist, of a girl lying pinned beneath her.

_ShitshitSHIT!__ I _knew_ I remembered that face from somewhere! The news even said her name!_, Kaito wailed inwardly.

Aoko was looking at her, her face a little concerned. "Kaito? Are you alright? You look a little..."

"I'm fine", Kaito managed, forcing her frozen facial muscles into motion. She tried to give her friend a reassuring smile, but judging by the way Aoko's expression went from mildly concerned to extremely worried, it was a wasted effort.

_What if she recognises me? What if she tells someone? How do I get out of this?_

Kaito held up one finger as though an idea had just occurred to her. "Wait."

"What?" Aoko's attention was like a flashlight on her face. She resisted the urge to flinch.

"What, uh, what if I- tell you what, lets go to the movies today and watch that film you wanted to see. My treat!"

Her friend eyed her carefully. "... There isn't a film I want to see."

"There's bound to be when we get there. Come on, I'll buy you popcorn, ice cream, a hot dog, you name it. Lets go!" Kaito grabbed Aoko's arm and tugged it, wishing that she could just run screaming from the situation.

"What- no!" Aoko pulled her arm back, looking deeply alarmed. "Kaito, what's wrong with you? Do you feel okay? Do you have a temperature?"

"I- you know, I think that's exactly what I have. I can't go out today, I'll just go back into my room-", Kaito babbled, backing away to safety.

A thermometer was suddenly held towards her. Kaito froze, wondering just how the girl had approached them so quietly. But then, she had done the same the night before, hadn't she?

_Not 'the girl'. Shinichi. Shinichi Kudo, teenage detective, young genius-_

She was now fully dressed, Kaito noticed. She felt her cheeks heat up, tried to remember what her body language looked like when she was at her most innocent.

"Here", Shinichi said, looking indifferent. Her deep blue eyes bored into Kaito's, freezing her to the spot. "Take your temperature. You can't go out if you're ill." Seeing that Kaito was making no move to take the thermometer, she added, "Don't worry, I washed it."

Feeling a sense of doom, like a heavy load was being held over her head ready to drop, Kaito took the thermometer.

* * *

Shinichi watched Ran and Sonoko joke with Aoko, shrieking with laughter and disturbing the café they were in. Occasionally, they'd lower the volume when someone glared or made a comment, but it always rose again.

She glanced at the other girl sitting quietly beside her, who had been introduced as Kaito Kuroba- a budding magician and 'stupid thief lover', although the detective hadn't been sure that Aoko had meant for her to hear that part.  
She was attractive, Shinichi decided, in a wild sort of way- messy brown hair with hints of auburn that she wore long, eyes that were almost violet- a very unusual shade. _The same as shade as-  
_She was tall, taller than Shinichi, and had long, dexterous fingers- piano playing fingers. She watched those fingers play with the handle of Kaito's hot chocolate mug, nimble and pretty. She had a sudden mental image of them encased in white gloves.  
Shinichi blinked and looked away from the girl's hands, mentally berating herself for staring. But then, she had noticed Kaito staring at her earlier in her apartment, so maybe she wasn't alone in that. The thought made her feel strangely pleased for some reason.

"Oi! Shinichi!"

The detective looked up, realising that they were all looking at her. "Sorry?"

"Tell us what happened when you saw KID", Sonoko prompted, her eyes sparkling. "What was he like? Did you see him close up?"

"Slightly too close for comfort, I think", Shinichi muttered, remembering the weight of KID sitting on her belly.

"What?", said Kaito sharply, violet eyes snapping to hers.

Shinichi blinked at her, confused by the reaction. "What?"

"Stop 'what'ing and tell me!", Sonoko said impatiently, slapping her hand on the table to regain the detective's attention. "How did you find him?"

"Uh...", said Shinichi, tearing her eyes away from Kaito's. "Well... I kind of got lost-"

"You mean you tried to ditch the heist", Ran interrupted, giving her a Look.

"No, I honestly-"

"Yeah, yeah", smirked Ran. "How did you find him?"

Shinichi gave her friend a dirty look and continued, "I _got lost_ and I found this room with a cabinet inside of it. When I looked inside, there was a red jewel, a bit like an egg in shape, and I was about to leave when I heard this noise."

Beside her, Kaito looked away and picked up her hot chocolate, holding onto it for dear life.

"The air vent in the room was pushed from the wall... and KID came out of it."

Sonoko gave a squeal, slapping her hands over her mouth. "So that's how he got in! What was he like?"

"He... well, he was taller than me, and he was all in white, although how he kept his suit white when in an air vent is beyond me..."

Kaito carried on sipping her drink and then realised that she was drinking air. She put her cup down carefully, her eyes downcast as Shinichi went on with her tale. She wondered if she would be able to escape from a prison cell.

"... I managed to push him to the ground before he threw the smoke bomb..."

Kaito thought about how fast she would have to sprint to get out of the café alive.

"... I was running down the corridor when he caught up with me..."

Kaito turned to look at Shinichi, wondering what expression she would have when she unveiled her carefully kept secret. Would she look smug, excited? Would she smile and laugh as she tore down Kaito's carefully constructed lies for all to see? There was no question in her mind that the detective knew her secret- she _had_ been close enough to see her face after all.

_Aoko is going to _skin_ me._

To Kaito's surprise, Shinichi was looking at her sideways, a calculating expression on her face. It looked as though she was making some kind of a decision.

"And then?", Sonoko prompted. Shinichi looked at her.

"And then I just put on a burst of speed and ran", Shinichi said, shrugging. "I managed to outrun him and got to the hall in time to alert Inspector Nakamori. But by the time he got there, KID was gone."

As the girls squealed and Aoko made smug assurances that her father would catch KID next time, Kaito gaped at the detective, who was applying a little too much care to the removal of whipped cream from her drink, studiously avoiding looking up. She continued to stare at her, and when Shinichi finally raised her head, her gaze pinned Kaito to the spot.

"Do you want this?", she asked, holding out a spoonful of the fluffy topping. "I'm not too keen on cream."

It was a moment before Kaito could speak. "... Uh, yeah. Thanks", she said. Then, mistaking Shinichi's intent when holding out the spoon, she leaned over and took it into her mouth. There was an awkward silence, and Kaito realized that the group had stopped talking to stare at them. She let go of the spoon and leaned back, swallowing down the cream. Ran's eyes were as wide as saucers.

_Why are they all-_

"Uh", said Shinichi, her cheeks pinkening, "I kind of meant to spoon the cream into your mug, but I guess that's okay too."

"Oh", said Kaito, feeling her own cheeks heat up against her will. "Sorry." _Idiot_.

"It's okay", Shinichi said, turning away and looking down at her cup again. She cleared her throat and scratched her cheek, exchanging a brief glance with Ran, who was now smirking again. Kaito looked away, mentally berating herself, missing the half-embarrassed smile that flitted across Shinichi's face.

There was a muffled giggle and then Aoko, Sonoko, and Ran resumed their conversation.

Kaito watched Shinichi spoon the rest of the cream into her empty cup and absently wondered what that feeling was in her stomach. She thought that maybe she _was_ ill, but dismissed the idea. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling as such, but it felt weird. Kind of a fluttering feeling in her stomach, and her heart was beating a little too fast-

Kaito froze. Beside her, Shinichi tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear and sipped her drink. The feeling increased.

_Oh, HELL no_, Kaito thought. Her heart felt as fluffy as the whipped cream before her.

* * *

Shinichi stared at Ran and Sonoko as they grinned at her. A little way down the street, Aoko, and Kaito stood patiently, stamping their feet and blowing on their fingers to keep from going numb from the cold.

"_What_?", she said when it became apparent that they were both waiting for her to speak first.

"What was that all about?", Sonoko asked.

Shinichi gave them both her most innocent look. "What was what all about?", she asked, widening her blue eyes with puzzlement. She knew what they meant, but there was no way that she'd make this easier for them.

Sonoko gave her a flick on the forehead, scowling at her fake naivety. "You know what we're talking about", she said, ignoring the glare Shinichi sent her. "What was up with that... that... whipped cream scene before?"

"You make it sound dirtier than it actually was", Shinichi muttered, rubbing her forehead. Sonoko could be a little forceful at times.

"Shinichi", Ran said sickly-sweetly, causing the detective to look up with terror in her eyes, "Why don't you tell us what happened before?"

Shinichi waited a second in case Ran wanted to destroy a wall to emphasise her question. "Nothing really", she said, once it was clear that no property damage was forthcoming. "I just offered her the cream from my drink and I guess she misunderstood what I meant." She shrugged.

"Uh huh", Ran said dubiously. "And you're _sure_ that's all that happened?"

The look Shinichi gave her was genuinely puzzled this time. "What do you mean? You saw what happened. You were right there."

"She means", Sonoko butted in impatiently, "Is that all it meant to you? Are you sure it was a mistake? Could there have been, perhaps, some deeper meaning behind it?" She raised her eyebrow arrogantly.

Shinichi rolled her eyes. "It was just a mistake. You saw her, she was embarrassed. And so was I, come to think of it. You could have toned down the giggling."

Ran grinned at her. "Oh, don't lie. I saw your face- you were embarrassed, sure, but you can't pretend that you didn't like it."

Shinichi glared at her friends, but they just smiled wider.

"Come on Shinichi", teased Sonoko, obviously enjoying her discomfort. "Just admit it- you liked it."

Shinichi pushed past them, deciding that it was time for her to detangle from the situation. She half turned as she went, and said, "I don't know why you guys are clinging on to the subject- after all, I never said that I _didn't_ like it."

Despite her annoyance at their persistence, the whoops the two girls gave at Shinichi's submission made her half smile.

* * *

"Just give us a minute", Ran said brightly, tightly gripping a sullen Shinichi by the arm as if she would disappear if she let go. "Me and Sonoko just need to have a word with Shinichi."

Aoko nodded and smiled, and watched as the two girls dragged the detective a few metres away to talk. She turned to Kaito, who was eyeing her carefully, seeming to expect what was coming.

"What", Aoko exclaimed, "Was that about?"

Kaito breathed over her cold fingers and widened her eyes at Aoko. "Whatever do you mean, my de- OW OW OW!"

Aoko held on to Kaito's ear, ignoring her friend's thrashing. "Don't lie to me, you know exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Please let go", Kaito whimpered, trying to avoid getting her ear torn off. Aoko freed her and the magician staggered back a few paces, rubbing the side of her head.

"You could have killed me", Kaito hissed, her shoulders hunching defensively. "Is that what you want, me dead? Is our entire friendship a lie?"

Aoko deadpanned. "Answer the question, BaKaito."

"Ahoko", Kaito muttered, but not too loudly. "Nothing happened."

"I _will_ hurt you. That little ear pinch was nothing." Aoko folded her arms and tapped her foot, her patience wearing thin.

Kaito eyed her cautiously. Aoko hadn't brought her mop along, had she? Where would she even put it?

Even so, it was probably best to play it safe and answer the question...

"I, uh, I made a bit of a mistake", she admitted, looking away. To Aoko's surprise, her friend started blushing.

Aoko blinked at her. "A mistake?"

"I thought she wanted me to eat from the spoon okay?", Kaito snapped. "I wasn't really thinking, and there it was in front of me, and so I just..."

"Ate whipped cream from her spoon while maintaining eye contact?" Aoko smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Suuure, it was a mistake."

"I swear! I didn't even realize what I did wrong until she told me!" Kaito paused, seeing that Aoko was still smirking. "I'm serious! It was really embarrassing, okay? Stop laughing at me!"

The eyebrow slowly lowered and Aoko looked a little unsure. "You mean... you didn't mean to do it? Really? You weren't trying to flirt with her or anything?"

"Yes! That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

Aoko gaped at her for a moment, then smacked her upside the head. "Idiot!", she barked. "How do you even mess up that bad?! You make me worry all morning, and then you do this!"

Kaito danced back a few steps as Aoko swiped at her again. "Worry? Why would you worry about me?"

"You didn't say a word the whole time we were there, except for when you snapped at Shinichi. That's not like you at all." Aoko paused and looked at her worriedly. "I was wondering if you actually _were_ ill. I know the thermometer said you were fine, but illnesses can be kind of tricky..."

Kaito brought up the courage to step a bit closer to her friend. No mop so far. "I'm fine", she said. "I've just been thinking about something is all. Sorry I've been worrying you."

Aoko sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's fine. But you might want to apologize to Shinichi. You acted really weirdly towards her. Go do one of your flashy introductions or whatever. Give her a flower." A sly smile slid across Aoko's face. "Like a red rose or something."

Kaito looked at her, puzzled. "A red- you do know what a red rose means, right?"

"It's because I know what a red rose means that I want you to give her one, you idiot!", Aoko yelled, and swiped at her.

Kaito ducked out of the way, laughing at Aoko's irritation. There was an eruption of smoke and Aoko was suddenly holding a single rose in her clenched fist. She threw it at her childhood friend, shrieking, "Not me, stupid!"

"But Ahoko!", Kaito sighed, fluttering her eyelashes. "I _love_ you!"

"BAKAI- oh, are you done?"

Kaito turned to see Ran, Sonoko, and Shinichi standing behind them. Ran and Sonoko were both smirking about something, while Shinichi was staring at the discarded rose on the ground with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, we're done", she said, looking up at them. "Um, I understand that this is a bit of a blunt question, but are you two going out?"

"NO!", they both yelled, leaping away from each other. Shinichi's eyebrows raised further at the twin denials.

"I mean, no", Aoko said. "We're just friends. Childhood friends."

"_Obviously_ they're not going out", said Sonoko loudly, rounding on the detective, who raised her hands up in a 'calm down' gesture.

"Shall we get going, then?", said Ran brightly, obviously used to this, and they began to walk back the way they had come. Ran, Sonoko, and Aoko hung back to whisper and giggle as they walked. Kaito caught several mentions of 'whipped cream.'

She scowled, realizing that there was no way Aoko would let her live this down.

Well, their time in the café could have gone a lot worse that it actually did. Shinichi hadn't revealed her as the phantom thief Kaitou KID, and Aoko hadn't decapitated her with her mop. In fact, the more Kaito thought about it, the more she could see how pointless her worrying had been. Shinichi probably hadn't even recognized her as KID. The corridor had been only dimly lit, and her hat and monocle had provided her with more than enough protection from prying eyes. Plus, the detective had been severely winded by her elbows that, as her father had once commented, were sharp enough to open tinned cans. It was a wonder that she had been able to see where she was going through her watering eyes, let alone run away.

Of course, there was the problem of Shinichi's parting comment, the quip about kicks between the legs working on girls too. Had she worked out her gender during their brief scuffle, or had she been giving her some random but helpful information?

Somehow, Kaito couldn't really see her as the helpful-information-to-thieves kind of girl.

Kaito felt intrigued. Here was a detective, obviously smart, obviously not lacking in strength, and yet she hadn't gone on kicking KID to bring her in for the taskforce, she hadn't told anyone about her real gender (if she had, the newspapers would be having a field day)- in fact, she had tried to run away when she saw the thief.

She sure was interesting.

And now they were living next door to each other, mere metres away. Talk about bad luck.

Or maybe it was good luck? Her heists _had_ been kind of boring lately, what with Hakuba having gone back to England for the holidays. Not that she liked the British bastard, but at least he gave her a bit of a challenge. Maybe she could do with having another detective around.

Plus, this one seemed kind of cute.

"So!", she said brightly to Shinichi, "you went to the KID heist last night." She could already feel a hint of the intoxicating excitement that came from a new challenge.

"Yes...?", Shinichi said, confused by the sudden change in personality. Kaito's eyes were suddenly sparkling, her whole being bouncy and cheerful. Where had the quiet, awkward girl from the café gone?

"I heard it was your first heist. Did you enjoy it?"

Shinichi remembered Aoko saying that Kaito was a 'thief lover.' "It was alright, I guess."

"Just alright?!", Kaito exclaimed. "But Kaitou KID is the best!"

"She- I mean, he didn't actually show up", Shinichi pointed out carefully. She knew how fan girls could get when she inadvertently insulted their idol, mainly through her interactions with Sonoko.

"You do have a point", Kaito mused, not missing Shinichi's gender slip. She had been feeling a little bad about not showing up. "But if that wasn't a good heist, what were you expecting from him?"

"I don't know... flashy tricks, confetti or something... Sonoko said he once did this trick where he teleported", Shinichi said honestly, feeling a little like she was being pumped for information. Of course, if Kaito was who she thought she was, then the notion wasn't so ridiculous.

_Let me see_, Shinichi thought, discreetly eyeing the girl. _She looks to be the right weight, the right height... the right colour eyes... even her voice sounds similar..._

And with her hair tied back and a binder on her chest, she would be more or less the right shape as well.

_And what of those noises in the night?_

Shinichi remembered the bang the bomb had emitted before expelling pink smoke at the heist and her eyes narrowed.

"So, you want something more-" Kaito said, and with a wave of her hand there was a pop. A shower of glitter and confetti erupted from nowhere to float down before them. "- like this?"

_Huh. Budding magician indeed._

Brushing a piece of confetti from her sleeve, Shinichi said, "I suppose so." She glanced over to see Kaito looking at her curiously, her head tipped to one side. "What is it?"

"Nothing. You just reminded me of someone." _A certain British bastard who never really reacts to my tricks either._

"Aoko said you were a magician."

Kaito beamed at the detective. "Yup! I'm the greatest magician in Japan! And one day, I'll be the greatest magician in the world!"

"Oh?" Shinichi was looking at her with no small degree of amusement. "Greater than your precious Kaitou KID?"

Kaito shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be as good as to surpass him."

They had got to the building now. Out of the corner of her eye, Shinichi watched Aoko, Ran, and Sonoko peel away from them, walk off swiftly in another direction, giggling. Heard something about 'give them space.' Grrr.

Kaito appeared not to notice. "What do you want to do, Shin-chan?"

Shinichi flinched a little at the nickname. "If it's all the same to you, could you please not call me that?" She didn't add why.

"Hmm... nope!", said Kaito cheerfully, holding the door open for her. Shinichi went through, shooting the girl a glare. "If you want, you can call me Kai-chan."

"Pass."

Kaito grinned. "Why don't you answer my question? What do you want to do when you're older?"

As they began to climb the stairs, Shinichi said, "I used to want to be a detective." She gave a little smile and said, "The greatest the detective in the world."

"'Used to'?"

"I kind of gave up on that dream."

"What? Why?!" They were walking down the corridor now to their apartments.

"Stuff happened. A few cases proved to be a little too intricate. I got out of my depth. I guess I just got tired of seeing dead bodies all the time." She thought over the way she phrased it and looked anxiously at Kaito, worried that she had weirded her out.

Kaito was looking at her thoughtfully. "I guess I can understand that you might need a break. But it's a sad thing to give up on your dream, isn't it?"

They were outside their doors now. A piece of wood crunched under Shinichi's foot, reminding her of the broken lock.

"I can always find a new dream. They're not too hard to come by."

Kaito's head tipped to one side, reminding Shinichi a little of a bird. "What do you want to do now, then?"

Shinichi stared at her blankly, not really having thought about it until that moment. Eventually, she shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've never really thought about it."

Kaito looked at her, feeling a little sad at the thought. "Tell me when you've figured it out. I'd like to know what you want to work towards."

Shinichi gave a startled laugh. "Why?"

Kaito grinned at her, her smile a sudden ray of sun in the gloomy conversation. "Because I think it will be interesting. You're a pretty interesting person, so whatever you come up with is bound to be interesting too."

Shinichi blinked at her. "Uh... thanks?"

"You're welcome!", Kaito chirped. "Hey, I never really got to introduce myself, did I?"

"Aoko did the honours."

"Nevertheless..." Kaito bowed at Shinichi and, with a twist of her wrist, produced a rose from thin air. She handed it to the startled detective, saying, "Kaito Kuroba, at your service."

Shinichi looked at the rose. It was thornless, the stem smooth and green. The petals of the rose were plump and so red they almost glowed, brimming with healthiness. Shinichi wondered how Kaito had managed to hide the flower without crushing it.

"Thanks", she said, feeling that her response was a little inadequate compared to Kaito's introduction.

The magician didn't seem to mind, beaming in response as if she had been given the compliment of compliments. "Well, I've got to go now. See you later?"

"Um, yeah", Shinichi said, refraining from adding that _obviously_ they would see each other later, seeing as they were neighbours. "Bye."

She let herself into her apartment and busied herself putting the rose into the vase, trying to ignore her flushing cheeks.

Well, that was... interesting. Kaito was certainly a unique person, thankfully- she didn't think she would be able to handle more than one of her. Especially as that would probably mean two Kaitou KIDs...

There were times that Shinichi wished that she could turn her brain off.

Contrary to what she had told Kaito, she had actually kind of enjoyed the heist. The adrenaline pounding through her system, the thrill of the chase, even if it was _her_ being chased, having to compile facts together to reach a conclusion...

Maybe she was more of a detective than she thought.

_Even so, this is a break I need_, she thought firmly. _No murders, no heists, no tracking down massive crime syndicates whose reach surrounds the world._

"Oh well", she sighed. "At least I made a friend."

An excitable, energetic, possibly phantom thief, magician of a friend.

_Pretty too._

God knows she needed more friends.

* * *

A/N

This chapter wasn't meant to be quite so long...  
Anyway! Here is Kaito and Shinichi's first meeting, nowhere near as exciting and cute as I intended *sobs* But maybe you guys see it a different way

Drop me a review so I can find out ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

It was only a few days after meeting Kaito that it happened. The scream of terror echoed throughout the building, deafening the detective crouching beside the body. Shinichi looked up from the corpse that had been oozing blood for, oh, maybe a couple of minutes by her estimation, to glare up at the screamer.

Shinichi wasn't really surprised at the sight of the corpse, contrary to the reactions of those around her. Really, she should have expected something like this sooner- a couple of months without corpses was the longest she had ever gone without somebody being murdered.

But _why_ did it have to happen in a corridor of her apartment building?

People were now crowding around the body, tracking blood around the crime scene. Shinichi rubbed her ringing ear and then stood up, shoving people away from the body.

"Back away from the crime scene", she said, raising her voice until it cut through the noise of curious murmuring and horrified exclamations. "Everyone, please back away. You!" She pointed to a teenager excitedly trying to take pictures of the corpse. "If you have time to take pictures, then you have time to call the police. Now! Nobody leave!"

She saw a few people pause in the act of walking away. A middle aged man glared at her and tapped his watch. "I need to get to my-"

"You can go to your job", said Shinichi, "If you don't mind the police visiting you there in about an hour asking why you left the crime scene?"

The man stopped tapping.

A movement out of the corner of her eye had her turning sharply. A blond head was bent before the corpse, a guy around her age leaning over it. He raised his head to meet her gaze, blue eyes staring up at her. "He's only been dead for a few minutes", he said. "Based on bruising and rigor mortis. I'm thinking it wasn't the knife that killed him."

"Who are you?", Shinichi said bluntly, very much not in the mood. It was 7:00am and she hadn't had her coffee yet, God damn it.

"My apologies." The guy stood and held out a hand, and Shinichi was a little gratified to see that the one he had been poking the corpse with was encased in a white glove. She took in the large inverness coat, the clipped way of speaking, and the strange mix of nationalities that made up his facial structure, and knew who he was before he opened his mouth to speak. "Saguru Hakuba, detective", he said, shaking her hand. His eyes noted the lack of any expression change on her face, and he added dryly, "But I guess you already deduced that."

"Shinichi Kudo", the detective said, ignoring his comment. It wouldn't do to get too familiar- the moment the police showed up, she was _out_ of there. Hakuba and the police force could handle the dead guy by themselves, right?

And then she could get back to her break in peace.

_You could always solve this one_, a voice in her head whispered tantalizingly. _One little case wouldn't hurt, right? And we both know that Hakuba would be an interesting person to collaborate with..._

Shinichi mentally shook herself and pulled her hand away.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've read about your cases in the news. I understand that you recently had a stroke of luck in a recent case with a certain crime syndicate. The Black Organisation, correct?"

Shinichi couldn't hide a little wince at the name. "Um, yes. It's all been wrapped up nicely. Life-long prison sentences all around." As she spoke she kept an eye out for Megure and his team.

"Most impressive." The detective seemed to have picked up on her lack of interest in continuing the subject, if the puzzled look he was giving her was anything to go by. She could understand his confusion- most detectives would be bragging until nightfall over such a victory.

"Thank you. The police have been called", said Shinichi, pushing her hands into her pockets. "When they arrive, you can have the floor. They'll listen to you and your deductions." After all, Shinichi knew just how irritating an uncooperative police force could be.

He blinked. "You're not staying?", he asked, for the first time losing a little of that pompous tone.

"Yeah. I, uh, have something important to do", she said evasively.

_Because breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day!_

"I would have thought that you would want to take part in unveiling the mystery of this man's death...?"

_Remember. Remember that you're taking a break. Remember that Ran will behead you if you get involved in anything big again._

Shinichi glanced at the corpse and sucked in a breath. Oh, crap.

"What is it?", said Hakuba sharply, noticing her reaction. Of course.

"I recognize him", Shinichi said gloomily. "Hajime Asato, twenty-two years of age. I think he was a bit of an internet star."

Hakuba looked thoughtful. "What did he do?"

"Um, videos and suchlike. I'm not too sure", she admitted. "I only saw him around occasionally. I never really watched his videos."

"You 'saw him around'?" Haluba raised an eyebrow. "You come here often?"

"I live here, in this building", Shinichi told him. "I moved recently. But, uh, I'd be grateful if you didn't tell anyone."

Hakuba nodded, the light of understanding dawning on his face. It had been months since her last big case, since the takedown of the Black Organisation, but the investigations into it were still ongoing, the FBI were uncovering murders and assassinations and blackmail cases that had gone back years. Any news reporter worth their salt would jump at the chance to interview the elusive Shinichi Kudo, the instigator and a key tool in the takedown. Keeping her location secret would no doubt be a huge favour to her.

"I take it that solving the murder of an acquaintance would eclipse the importance of your plans...?" Hakuba knew that by saying this he was guilting the detective into staying and joining in with solving the case, but he was curious enough of the girl that he only felt a little sorry for it. With phrasing like that, she _couldn't_ refuse to stay.

"What I have to do is _really_ important", Shinichi said firmly.

_Or maybe she can._

Hakuba turned his head away to hide his look of disbelief. Maybe she just didn't like the guy.

Or...

Wasn't her insistence to leave suspicious? Here there was a dead body, and Shinichi didn't want to solve the nature of the death? A detective, famous for her deduction skills, walking away from a case? And wasn't she the first one by the body?

What if she knew something about it? What if she herself was implicated in it? What if she had the murder weapon on her person at that very moment? If that were the case, then her eagerness to leave would make sense.

As the crowd whispered and grew and tried to surreptitiously take pictures of the corpse, the wheels in Hakuba's head turned. Could he stop her leaving? Insist she stay? She spoke of the police force very familiarly- would they take his suspicions seriously, or brush them off?

Somehow, Hakuba thought that the latter would be more likely.

A sigh from Shinichi made him turn his head. She was staring back at the body with a calculating look on her face. She pulled a pair of gloves from her pocket and put them on. "... But", she continued reluctantly, "I guess my plans can wait."

_Oh._

Hakuba's response was eclipsed by the arrival of Megure and his team. The crowd parted like the red sea at the sound of his voice, raised in inquisitiveness.

Shinichi turned to Hakuba and said, "I think the time of death you told me is correct", she said. "I also think the cause of death is strangulation. If you look at his neck, you can see ligature marks where he was garrotted. He also has scratches on his neck, showing that he tried to struggle." She crouched beside the body and titled his face upwards slightly so that it was angled towards the light. "He also has red marks around his eyes and-" Here she lifted an eyelid. "- red eyes due to the blood being forced into the whites from the pressure. He also has tiny burst blood vessels under the eyelids."

"DON'T TOUCH THE- oh, it's you, Kudo."

Shinichi stood and nodded to Inspector Megure. "I believe the cause of death is strangulation. And I don't think this is where he was killed."

"Well, it would certainly be difficult to strangle someone in an apartment building hallway", said Hakuba, with a touch of the dry humour Shinichi had glimpsed earlier. "Where then?"

Shinichi reached out and pushed open the door beside the corpse. It swung open easily, revealing a room that would be neat and tidy if the table hadn't been overturned and spattered with blood. "Here", she said. "Where he lives."

* * *

Ran almost dropped the box of pastries that she was holding when she saw the crowd in the hallway. Fighting back a growl, she shoved her way through the mass of bodies to see-

Shinichi turned and came face-to-face with an irate Ran. She squeaked and darted out of the way as a fist shot towards her. The detectives stopped working at the sound of a crunch to stare at the new fist-shaped hole in the wall.

"Shinichi Kudo", Ran hissed, shaking pieces of brick and plaster from her free hand, "There had better be a damn good explanation for this."

A white-faced Shinichi backed away, hands held up in a gesture of peace. "It- it wasn't my fault! He's this guy I know and I couldn't just- I was only walking down the corridor!_ I wasn't the one who wanted to stay!"_

Ran looked at the police. _"Who?"_ The entire room backed up a step. "Who made her get involved?"

"... That would be me."

Ran turned to face the blond boy standing behind her, who was looking remarkably composed for someone who had watched Ran drive her fist through the wall. She looked at him with murder in her eyes, silently demanding an explanation.

"I suggested that she might want to cancel her plans to solve the murder of an acquaintance", he explained calmly. "I assume that her plans involved you? I am terribly sorry if I caused you any inconvenience."

Ran turned and gave Shinichi a long hard look, causing the girl to pale further. "We're going to go to your apartment", she said, her voice, deceptively calm, "And you're going to explain to me just why you felt the need to interrupt your break for this."

Shinichi was practically colourless now. "There's... um... there's just one small problem with that plan...", she said weakly.

Ran's voice was as cold as ice. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Shinichi looked away desperately, anticipating that she would be introduced to a world of pain very shortly. "Megure is kind of... interviewing suspects in my apartment...", she mumbled.

The entire room flinched at the sound of a fist hitting flesh.

* * *

Kaito looked down the corridor at the crowd curiously, wondering what all the commotion was about. She had received a call from Aoko excitedly telling her that Hakuba had come back from England and wanted to meet, and that they were going to convene at Kaito's apartment because she wanted to drink tea on the pretty balcony. She had hung up on Kaito's groan.

It had been almost an hour now, and both Hakuba and Aoko had failed to show up. A part of her rejoiced at not having to see Hakuba's stupid face that day, but another part of her was worried. What if Aoko had got into an accident on her way there? What if Hakuba's plane had inexplicably exploded on the runway? Neither of them were answering their phones.

Kaito had knocked on Shinichi's door earlier in an attempt to take her mind off of her worry, but the detective hadn't answered. Now, she was wondering if the crowd had something to do with those three friends of hers. She got through the crowd with ease born from having to sneak around her heists, and slipped around the policeman at the door without having to think about it.

"...urine." Kaito perked up at the sound of Shinichi's voice, and saw the teenager kneeling beside a damp patch on the carpet.

"Really? It looks more like juice to me." And there was Hakuba, standing beside her. So where was Aoko?

"Believe me, it doesn't smell like juice", Shinichi said, before noticing Kaito. Her brows drew into a frown. "Hey, how did you get in?" She had a livid red mark on one cheek, as though she had been struck.

"Secret", smiled Kaito, walking up to the two. "I wondered why you weren't answering the door. What's going on?"

"This is a crime scene", said Hakuba coldly. " You can't be in here."

"Nice to see you too, you British Bastard."

"Complementary as always, Kuroba", the detective sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Where's Aoko? I assume she sent you to fetch me?"

"She isn't with you?", said Kaito, the hope that Aoko might be around somewhere dying.

"I thought she was with you."

"Wrong! And I thought you were a detective", Kaito jeered.

Shinichi watched this exchange with a raised eyebrow. They knew each other? Were they friends? They didn't seem to like each other. She caught Kaito's eye and quietly turned back to the puddle of urine.

"So if it's urine", said Hakuba, disregarding the magician, "Then that means he was killed in here?"

"Wait", interjected Kaito. "Who got killed?"

"Asato Hajime", Hakuba said. He watched Kaito's face harden and added, "Did you know him?"

"... I saw him around", Kaito said quietly, her earlier cheer absent. She looked at the drops of blood with an unreadable expression.

Shinichi and Hakuba glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Shinichi had the thought to pat her on the ankle where she crouched. Finally, she cleared her throat.

"He was strangled, certainly", said Shinichi, answering Hakuba's earlier question. "I wouldn't say killed. See that there are a few drops of blood here too, with a small trail leading to the door? I'm thinking that he was stabbed and strangled, and then he managed to drag himself to the corridor before he finally died. He was probably trying to get help."

"So he pissed himself?", said Kaito, looking up from the blood. "Why is that important?"

Hakuba rolled his eyes at the remark while Shinichi said, "The victim was garrotted, and sometimes garrotting victims will empty their bladder and bowels during the attack. Sometimes its an instinctual thing, emptying any... unneeded weight in order to escape faster. Sometimes it happens when spasming muscles go limp and release their load. So, it's logical to assume that he was strangled on this spot instead of in the hallway. The fact that there are patches of blood here also suggest that he was stabbed on the spot, and the way they turn to smears nearer to the door show that he dragged himself, or was dragged by someone."

"I'd say he dragged himself", said Hakuba, looking at the blood. "See the spatters? He was standing when he was stabbed, but the bigger, less..."

"Splatted?", suggested Kaito.

"... droplets and smears show he was more or less level to the ground when he moved. When you drag someone, you have to lift them a little in order to get them moving, but he wasn't lifted here."

"Plus, he doesn't have carpet burn", said Shinichi. "He probably half-crawled. It must have taken him a while."

"Wait a second", said Kaito, looking around. "Isn't this where he filmed his videos?"

"You watched them?", said Hakuba.

"Sure. He was an internet idol. I remember he did a bunch of cosplays of Kaitou KID- that was how we got talking."

"I should have known that you would bring that _insufferable_ thief into the conversation somehow", Hakuba said, staring hard at Kaito.

"I'm, er, going to ask the inspector something", said Shinichi quickly, sensing another argument on the horizon and making a diplomatic exit.

"What are you trying to say?", Kaito hissed once Shinichi was out of earshot.

"You _know_ what I'm trying to say", replied Hakuba calmly, a smirk playing around his lips.

"I don't know what you mean", said Kaito, earning a snort from the detective, " But watch your mouth around Shin-chan."

"Does she really let you call her that?" Without waiting for a reply, Hakuba continued, "She's your neighbour, isn't she? Bad luck for you, especially considering that you already have one detective in your life. But then again, a life without excitement isn't a life worth living- that's how you see it, right? Kaitou KID?"

Kaito pushed past the smirking the detective and walked over to where Shinichi was standing. She was staring up at the overhead fan on the ceiling, a thoughtful look on her face. Kaito looked in the same direction, spotted something on the blades.

"Tape?", she said.

"I think so", said Shinichi. "There's some by the windows, the door, and on the light fixtures in the other rooms."

"But why?" Kaito pulled on the pair of gloves she had lifted from Hakuba's pocket when she passed him before.

"If you look at the gaps in the dust, you can see that there was something small and rectangular taped there."

_Small and rectangular...?_

Kaito looked at the tape, then at the windows and door. Two windows, one door. Tape at each exit. Kaito looked at Shinichi and saw that she had reached the same conclusion.

"Cameras?", she said.

Shinichi nodded. "One taped at each exit to watch the one opposite it. A few taped to the fan blades to eliminate any blind spots. He was recording his own apartment."

"But... where are the cameras now?"

Shinichi glanced back up at the tape. "That's what we've got to work out."

"Hey", Hakuba called, waving them over to where he was crouched over a laptop. A detective gave Kaito a curious look before going back to his work. "The laptop's on."

He bent over the screen, which displayed a background picture of a cat and a password bar. "It's locked."

"That's a cute cat", said Kaito looking at the screen. "It's his, I think. I've seen it around."

Shinichi and Hakuba glanced at each other.

"Kuroba", said Hakuba casually, "I don't suppose you could do me a small favo-"

"No", said Kaito immediately.

"We need you to find the cat", said Shinichi.

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Because it's a key witness to this investigation", said Hakuba. Kaito deadpanned.

"I'll go with you", said Shinichi, standing. "It'll be easier to catch the cat if there are two people to do it."

"Yes, go with Shinichi, Kuroba", said Hakuba said. "You can use this time to bond. Maybe you'll find out something _interesting_ about each other."

Kaito flipped him off once Shinichi's back was turned.

* * *

Ran sighed and rubbed her aching fist. She was feeling sorry now for striking her friend, and not just because it had got her removed from the murder scene before she brought the apartment down. Shinichi didn't go looking for murders after all- they just found her, no matter what she did. And she _had_ been good with avoiding them recently- she had lasted months longer than Ran had expected her to.

And she supposed that she could forgive her wanting to solve this one, seeing as she actually knew the guy.

Ran bit into a pastry gloomily. Might as well finish them herself- it could be hours before this case was wrapped up. She wondered if she should just go home.

A meow caught her attention, and Ran looked down to see a pretty black cat standing beside her feet. It purred and padded around her, rubbing itself against her ankles. Ran smiled and scratched it behind the ears, delighting as it purred even harder.

"Where did you come from, hmm?", she cooed. The cat pawed her outstretched hand, inviting another scratch. Its touch left a smear of rusty red behind.

Ran snatched her hand back and stared at her palm, for a moment thinking that she had been scratched. It was then that she noticed the trail of bloody paw prints it had left along the corridor.

* * *

"What happened to your face?", Kaito asked Shinichi as they strolled along the corridor.

The detective's hand jumped to her cheek. "My face? It's nothing. Nothing happened."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because it looks an awful lot like you've been punched." She waited for a reply, then added, "You've got a bit of bruising there."

Shinichi rubbed her face and said nothing. Her tongue stung from where she had bitten it on impact.

"Did you know Asato that well?", Kaito asked, deciding a change of topic was obviously in order.

"No, not really. But it sounds like you were familiar with him?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kaito grinned. "He went to a Kaitou KID convention, and we got talking because we were both wearing the same costume. That was when we realized that we lived in the same building."

"A Kaitou KID_ convention_?", Shinichi said. "They have those?"

"They have them all over the country. You can buy KID costumes there, look at replicas of the jewels he's stolen, eat ice cream in the shape of doves-"

"Doves?", said the detective, bewildered.

"Yeah, 'cos KID has pet doves. Sometimes they help him out in his heists."

"And people go to these conventions... why?"

"I guess because they enjoy what KID brings. The excitement from his heists, his amazing tricks, his gentlemanly attitude- it just makes everyone love him." Kaito paused and looked at Shinichi. "You really weren't aware of this?"

"I only really realized he existed when Ran dragged me along to his heist", Shinichi said truthfully. "I would hear about him on TV and Sonoko loves to talk about him, but I never really paid attention."

"Why not? Didn't the idea of him interest you?"

"No, not really", said Shinichi indifferently. "I had more important things to deal with, and I didn't have time to focus on some show-off thief with a jewel obsession."

Kaito winced. Ouch. "Hey, remember that you're talking to KID's biggest fan here."

"Sorry", said Shinichi, not sounding at all apologetic. "But doesn't it bother you that the person you admire is a criminal?"

"Well, it's not as if he hurts anyone", Kaito said, her voice a little reproachful. "In fact, he actually seems to go out of his way to avoid harm."

Shinichi remembered KID's deliberate elbow to the stomach. "That isn't the impression I got."

"Well, he's not just going to let himself get caught, is he? Better to give someone a small bruise than to find yourself locked away for the rest of your life."

"Wow." _An answer for everything._

"What?"

"Nothing", said Shinichi innocently. "Lets concentrate on finding that cat."

"Shinichi! Hey, wait!"

Shinichi and Kaito turned to the source of the yell to find Ran jogging towards them, holding something black in her arms. Shinichi took a swift step back, to Kaito's confusion.

"I think you might want to look at this", Ran said, and held out the creature in her arms.

"The cat!", said Kaito, grinning. "Wow, you found it! Thanks for saving us the trouble."

"Why did you bring it to us?", said Shinichi frowning. Ran didn't even know the murder victim _had_ a cat.

"Take a look at its paws", said Ran, keeping a hold on the squirming pet. "It has blood on them."

* * *

"So...", said Megure, frowning at the computer screen. "You say that you and Kudo both noticed tape around the ceiling of the room, and deduced that cameras may have been taped there, but have since been removed. What does that tell us?"

Hakuba checked the time on his watch again. Kaito and Shinichi should have been back by now. "It tells us that the victim may have noticed something different in his home and decided to keep watch on the apartment. The patches in the dust show the cameras weren't very small, and if it were someone else trying to spy on him, they would have been be smaller and more well-hidden, so it's logical to assume that it was him who put them up. The fact that they were angled toward all the entrances in the room shows that he thought that someone was breaking in, perhaps regularly."

"But if he thought someone was breaking in, why wouldn't he call the police?", said the inspector.

"There may be a reason- blackmail perhaps. Asato was internet famous, and there are many pictures of him by people who saw him in his everyday life. He may have gained a few stalkers along with his fame. He may have noticed an invasion in his home and was intending to see who it was. The dust around the room is pretty thick, which implies that the cameras would have been there for a while. He would have to store the memory somewhere-"

"On his computer!", said a homicide detective from behind the inspector.

"Precisely. However, the screen is locked, and it only allows for three tries before it becomes inaccessible for twenty-four hours. The memory isn't going anywhere, but I think we'd all like to get this mystery wrapped up before nightfall."

"But how do we find the password?", said another detective.

"Shinichi and I thought that maybe the background image could be a clue." Hakuba gestured towards the screen. "Asato lived alone, and pretty much the only pictures he has on display are of the cat. He also showed fondness towards it in many of his internet videos, grooming it and dressing it up and suchlike. There's a very large possibility that the name of the cat is the password. Shinichi and Kuroba are searching for it as we speak-"

"Nao!", cheered Kaito, walking through the door with the cat held aloft. "It's name is Nao!" She paused then added, "Also, it has blood on it."

As several detectives rushed forward to relieve Kaito of the struggling, bloodied feline, Hakuba tapped in the password and watched as the computer unlocked.

"We have access", he said. He searched around for a minute and said, "We also have a lot of camera files."

Shinichi leaned over his shoulder, frowning. "Looks like the cameras were set to click on at any movement." She went through several files, saw one with Asato standing in the middle of the room, arms held out, his figure blurred. "Is he dancing?"

Hakuba squinted, tipping his head to the side. "He might be. It's a bit hard to see." He clicked the mouse a few times and groaned. "There has to be _hundreds_ of these files on here."

Shinichi patted him on the shoulder and stood. "Well, have fun looking through them. Call for me if you find ones of him in the shower."

Hakuba snorted as she walked away.

* * *

Shinichi left the room and leaned against the wall outside. She frowned at the small bloodstains still on the floor, the corpse having been taken away a while ago. She could hear Ran talking to a detective about the cat, saying how she had found it and where it would go once this all was over. Her lips quirked up a little at the sound of her friend trying to arrange a place for the cat to be kept. Funny how someone so terrifyingly strong could also be so kind.

She thought back to the case. Asato had been strangled by something thick, judging by the ligature marks on his throat. He had also been stabbed in the shoulder, likely to slow him down. He had cameras in his apartment, cameras that were now missing. Hakuba had found scratches on the lock that suggested that someone had broken their way in, and his cat had bloody paws.

Bloody paws...

The blood wasn't Asato's, judging by a lack of cat scratches on the body, meaning that it belonged to the murderer. A murderer that had left the crime scene only minutes before the body had been found, judging by the state of the body.

_If I was a murderer_, Shinichi thought, _and I had to clean up an incriminating wound in a hurry, where would I go? I'd go somewhere safe... somewhere private..._

Shinichi pushed herself away from the wall and started off toward her own apartment. According to Megure, all of the suspects lived within the building, quite near to where Asato was killed.

_I think it's time to talk to the suspects._

* * *

Kaito looked up from annoying Hakuba to see the detectives rush from the room. She stood, leaving a relieved Hakuba sitting beside the laptop. "What's going on?"

Hakuba sighed and picked up a sheet of paper he had printed from the laptop, tucking it carefully into his pocket as he stood. "I believe that Kudo is living up to her title of 'saviour of the police force' once again."

"... Now do you understand?", Shinchi was saying to a wide-eyed man standing in her apartment as they entered. "Out of the six suspects we have talked to, only you and one other did not have your movements accounted for during the estimated time of death. Additionally, you are the only one who would have been strong enough to strangle Asato to unconsciousness." She paused and eyed the suspect, who was trembling. "I also paid a visit to your apartment. I found a number of blood stained tissues in your bin, as well as a collection of small cameras under your bed."

"T-that's my blood, I cut myself while cooking", the suspect snapped. "And those cameras are mine too. I bought them for a project-"

"No", Shinichi said quietly, her calm voice cutting through his words like a razor. "Those are Asato's cameras, obtained to catch you in the act of breaking into his apartment. The memory has been erased, but I dare say that it can be retrieved. But you're partially right about the blood- it is yours, but you didn't get it from a shaving slip. No, you were scratched quite severely by Asato's cat, probably somewhere like your leg or your-"

"This is stupid!", the suspect screamed, not noticing how a couple of police officers took a half step forward in anticipation of an attack. Ran, standing to the side and holding the growling cat, carefully set it down, her muscles tensing. "I'm not guilty of this crime! Why would I do it anyway? I barely even knew the guy!"

"I believe I can answer that question", Hakuba said smoothly, pulling out a sheet of paper from his pocket. "I have here a print-out of a threatening message sent to Asato's email a few days ago, stating that if he was to tell the police about any suspected break-ins, his private information would be released to the public as well as evidence of his online bullying activities that he used to eliminate any opposition in his rise to internet fame." Hakuba raised an eyebrow at the suspect. "One of the examples you sent to him to prove you have the information appears to contain references to your brief five minutes of internet fame before he overtook you."

The suspect stared at them, and Kaito swallowed. His eyes were slits of fury, his frame trembling with anger. He looked dangerous, and suddenly the two detectives looked very small and vulnerable before the man.

"... I was great on the internet", he snarled between gritted teeth. "I was a rising star. I made videos and guest appearances with other stars, and I was getting money for it too, before he showed up. He got hold of my personal information somehow, threatened me with it. Then he spread around rumours about me, that I harassed my fans, that I didn't deserve the interest people took in me, and eventually everyone believed it. He took my place, started raking in _my_ money, started talking to _my_ fans. He went on TV, featured in adverts while I was slowly forgotten.

"The day I realized we lived in the same building was a blessing. I just wanted to knock him off his pedestal, give him a taste of his own medicine, but then I thought 'why stop there?' So I broke in, started moving things around, intending to scare him. I knew he'd eventually catch on so I sent him an email to shut him up. I never thought that'd he'd come home and catch me there when removing the cameras..."

"And so you attacked him", said Shinichi softly, her voice like silk, coaxing him on.

"I panicked. I punched him but I was still holding the pick I used to break in and ended up stabbing him instead. He screamed and came after me, and I was still holding a cord from one of the cameras... I just pushed him onto the floor and pulled it tight around his neck until he stopped moving. I was only defending myself."

"And the cat?"

"It attacked me when I was leaving... I think I stepped on it's tail or something and scratched my leg." He looked at Shinichi's face and said again, "I was only defending myself."

"No", she said. "You broke into Asato's house, you blackmailed him, you mentally played with him, and you killed him. All for a silly internet fad."

"But with him out of the way", he said, his face lighting up with a sickening smile, "I can take my place with the internet famous again!"

Hakuba folded his arms. "I wouldn't say that. After all, I doubt they have internet in jail."

"Trust me", said Shinichi, "By the time you emerge from prison, if ever, there won't be anyone interested in your or your attempts to regain internet fame. For you, your life is effectively over."

The suspect was shaking his head. "No", he said. "No, that's not going to happen."

"Accept the truth ", said Hakuba, beckoning a few grim-faced policemen over. "This was all a wasted effort."

"That's not GOING TO HAPPEN!", screamed the suspect, his rage making a reappearance. He started forward, one fist clenched and heading for Hakuba, the nearest target.

Two things happened at once.

Ran darted forward and went low, ducking under the murder's arm to sink a fist into his stomach. His breath was forced out of him with a wheeze.

Shinichi hefted a heavy ceramic fruit bowl from the table and kicked it as it fell, sending it spinning to slam into his head. Shards of ceramic exploded outwards of impact, pieces of fruit bouncing along the ground.

The murderer crashed to the ground heavily with a shriek, his eyes rolling back in his head as he slid into unconsciousness. The police force stared at Ran and Shinichi, who were relaxing from their attacking positions.

"Pathetic", sighed Shinichi, shaking her head at the prostrate man. She picked an apple up from the floor and bit into it.

Ran flicked her dark hair over her shoulder. "Are you okay?", she asked a wide-eyed Hakuba. He nodded quickly.

Kaito bent over and picked up a small white object that had bounced its way over to her. She examined it briefly, flinching as she realized what it was.

Shinichi watched her examine the tooth, swallowing her mouthful. "A souvenir", she said jokingly, smirking when Kaito made a face and flicked it away.

Megure shook himself from his shock and barked, "Come on, what are you waiting for? Handcuff him!"

The policemen jumped and rushed forward, leaving the detectives to watch the arrest.

"Wow", Kaito said, wiping her hand on her shirt. "Who knew that people could take internet fame so seriously?"

"Trust me", said Shinichi, "I've known people to kill for weaker reasons than that."

They watched as the murderer was carried out of the door. A policeman began to pick up the pieces of the missile fruit bowl and Shinichi hurried forward to find a pan and brush for him.

"Uh...", said someone from behind Kaito. She and Hakuba turned to see Aoko looking curiously through the door at the scene.

"Sorry I'm late", she said. "The bus broke down. What's going on here?"

Kaito grinned at her friend. To Hakuba's disgust, she had found the tooth again and was rolling it between her fingers. "Oh, Aoko. Have I got a story for you!"

* * *

A/N

Yay, Neighbour-Shinichi's first case! :D  
I was intending to publish this earlier, but, you know, school and stuff -.-

Mochiyakissu- Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked the cream part- I cringed when writing it, but once I had it in my head, it was something that had to be done. Usually, I update about once a month or so- I'm trying to do it more often, but school and life in general often gets in the way *sighs*

Tell me what you think of this chapter! Even criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Shinichi looked up from her lunch to stare at Ran. Her best friend sat beside her on the stone wall encircling their school's play ground, the cold wind playing with her hair, the unseasonable winter sun giving her a sort of auburn halo. Shinichi had to squint to look at her.

"Do I get a choice this time?", she asked, shielding her eyes.

"You got a chance last time", said Ran indignantly. "I asked you if you wanted to go to KID's heist, and you said yes."

"You clenched your fists at me. Threateningly."

"That doesn't mean I was threatening-"

"Have you ever taken a five hour course in body language for homicide detectives?"

Ran looked at her uncertainly. "No..."

"I have", said Shinichi gloomily, tearing the crusts off of her sandwich, "And if you knew what your body language meant, you'd be appalled."

"You get a choice this time", Ran insisted, backing away to safer waters. "And you did have a choice last time."

Shinichi looked back at her friend, her mouth opened to retort, and then looked at Ran's hands and turned away again. Ran looked down, saw her hands were clenching her lunchbox with irritation.

"Yeah, okay", Shinichi said. "But I don't want to go this time."

"Why not? Didn't you have fun last time?"

"Being chased by a giggling, insane phantom thief through darkened corridors isn't my idea of fun", Shinichi snapped. "Besides, I get the feeling that Inspector Nakamori wasn't too pleased to see me, especially after he heard that I was a detective. 'Meddling little brat' was what he called me, right?"

"He meant it in a nice way", Ran said weakly. "I don't think he likes anyone really."

"Uh huh."

"Come on, give it another shot. You know this kind of thing interests you, and it has to be better than murders." Ran watched Shinichi's face darken at the memory of her dead neighbour and went on, "Maybe this will take your mind off of it?"

Shinichi sat back and sighed. "Well, I guess if I want something to distract me, I can't do better than a flashy, maniac thief, right?"

Ran grinned, her face lighting up. "Right!"

* * *

_The heists are certainly distracting_, Shinichi acknowledged privately, _but I was expecting something a little more friendlier than this._

Before her, Nakamori's moustache bristled with ferocity. His entire face was a glorious shade of puce, his fists were clenched, and the jacket of his grey suit was straining over the muscles that clenched beneath it. The man put Shinichi in mind of a bomb about to go off.

"I'm not going to interfere", Shinichi said with forced calm, knowing even as she spoke that her words would not dampen the man's anger. She wondered if he was about to have a heart attack, and tried to remember her classes on resuscitation.

"We don't need another disaster like last time", he growled.

_Disaster? I stopped the jewel from being stolen!_, an indignant voice piped up in her head.

Her mouth said robotically, "Yes, inspector. I have no intention of getting involved."

"You'd better not", he snarled, then stormed away. Shinichi watched him go up to a taskforce man at random and yank his cheek, eliciting a pained howl. She sighed and looked out over the crowd in the room. Another heist where the fans had been allowed in, apparently.

And now she was alone. Ran had melted away into the mass of people as Nakamori had stormed up to her, abandoning her to his rage. Huh.

Shinichi scowled and moved through the crowd, looking for a familiar face. Sonoko had to be here too, right? Or Aoko?

And maybe Kaito, KID's 'biggest fan.'

But then again, the crowd was so huge that it would be a miracle for her to find the door again, let alone her friends. She pushed her way through the crowd, moving between the crush of bodies with difficulty until she was spat out in a blessedly empty space by a wall. She leaned against it, fighting the urge to hug it so she didn't get swept away again.

"I hate crowds", she muttered. She looked down at the floor and saw something strange. She frowned. The carpet hadn't been laid down correctly- there were weird bumps under it, like the carpet hadn't been smoothed out properly. Actually, it looked like there was something underneath it. She frowned and stared at the floor, then took a step from the wall and looked down at the edge of the carpet pressed against the skirting board. Maybe she could lift it and-

"Wow! Someone looks miserable!", came a chirpy voice to her left. Shinichi looked up to see a pretty blonde girl smiling at her, her entire face alight with friendliness. Shinichi blinked.

"Um, yeah", she said, straightening.

"Did you get the cheek pinch?!"

"The what?", said Shinichi, nonplussed.

"The cheek pinch, the cheek pinch!", the girl laughed, lightly pinching her own cheek to demonstrate. "We all get our cheeks pinched so that they can be sure we're not KID in disguise! Did you get it?!"

Shinichi eyed the girl curiously. She had never met anyone who only spoke in exclamations before. "No."

"Ooh!" The girl's hand shot out and gave Shinichi's cheek a quick tug before withdrawing again. "Whoops, I guess you're not KID! That's disappointing! I really love KID, you know, I think I might be his biggest fan!"

Shinichi backed up a step or two, rubbing her cheek. _What the hell?_

The noise of the crowd seemed to come together just then, the unbearable noise forming itself into something more ordered. Shinichi realized that they were counting down from ten.

"It's almost time!", the girl squealed. Before she could react, Shinichi felt her hand close around her arm and pull her back into the crowd.

"What are you doing?!", she yelled over the countdown. She was being pulled along helplessly, and the strength of the girl's grip told her that she was unlikely to be released anytime soon.

"SEVEN!", the crowd screamed.

"We need to get to the display case!", was the answer. "That's where all the good stuff is about to happen!"

Shinichi tried to tug her arm back and failed. "I'd really rather not!"

"Come on! It'll be fun!", the girl laughed, and something about that laugh was familiar. Shinichi stopped struggling and stared at the blonde head before her.

"FOUR!"

"Who are you?", she asked quietly, her eyes narrowing.

"What?!" The girl finally slowed, and the crowd was so dense that Shinichi could barely breathe. It was like being underwater, except that water didn't smell of hundreds of unwashed teenagers.

"Who are you?!", she shouted, trying to tug her arm back again. The grip slid up her arm until it was around her bicep, holding tight enough to hurt.

"Hey, did you notice anything weird around here?"

Shinichi stared at her. The exclamations were gone, the girl staring at her with an oddly intent look on her face. She swallowed, saw the girl focus on her throat.

"The carpet...", she began, her voice coming out croaky. "There's something under the carpet."

The girl's encouraging smile grew huge, becoming manic, gleeful, and horrifyingly familiar. Shinichi felt herself blanch.

"Ooh, you did so well!", the girl cheered. "I'm impressed, detective." The girl yanked her arm sharply and they came out in an empty space, the display case before them. A taskforce member looked at them, opened his mouth to stop them from advancing.

"ONE!"

There was a rumbling around them, the ground shaking, then rising up-

Shinichi gaped as the carpet split around them and nets appeared, rising upwards toward the high ceiling, sectioning the room up. She watched, open-mouthed, as hundreds of screaming fans were encased in netting, lifted from the ground to hang high above them. They finally stopped when they reached the high ceiling, allowing Shinichi to hear hundreds of screams and yells, and, oddly, a few cheers.

Shinichi turned to the girl she now knew as KID, who let go of her arm.

"Oh", she said.

KID raised an eyebrow and a puff of smoke enveloped her and the display case. Shinichi took a quick step back, remembering the last time the smoke had been used in her vicinity.

"I've got to admit", KID drawled as the smoke cleared, now sitting casually on the case, "I was expecting a bigger reaction than that."

* * *

KID watched Shinichi's eyes flicker toward the display case under her, which now had only a few taskforce around it. They were gaping at KID, as shocked by her sudden appearance as the detective was. The entire room was silent, bar the groans of those hanging above them. Those few fans that had escaped the nets were staring with bated breath, waiting for the magic to begin.

But KID was waiting for Shinichi.

"Cat got your tongue?", she asked softly.

A look of mild irritation appeared on Shinichi's face. She appeared to shake herself, regaining her composure. "Kaitou, actually", she said coolly, her blue eyes narrowing. "How did you manage to set up these huge nets without anyone noticing?"

KID grinned. "You're the detective, you tell me."

Shinichi stayed silent, her eyes flickering to the case again. The jewel winked and twinkled in the light.

"The more you talk", KID added, "The less time I have to steal the jewel before reinforcements arrive."

Shinichi blinked at her. "Renovations", she said. "The hall went through renovations a few weeks ago. The carpets were replaced and the walls were repainted. I expect you- you laid down the nets-?" She stopped when she saw KID's grin widen.

"Correct", KID purred, standing up. She watched Shinichi back away a little at the movement. She could dimly hear Nakamori screaming curses and profanities from above them. "Don't look so scared detective. I'm not going to bite." She paused, then added, "Well, not hard."

And Shinichi's face flushed a brilliant shade of pink as KID threw out her arms and yelled. "Ladies and gentlemen! My apologies for the delay, but now the heist is ready to begin!"

And that was when everything went to hell.

* * *

Shinichi woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. She groaned and rolled over, her hand slapping around blindly on her bedside table until she encountered it.

"Mmm... hello?", she mumbled.

"Shinichi! Where are you?" Ran's voice reverberated in her head, reminding Shinichi why she usually turned her phone off at night. She sighed and sat up, pulling her duvet around her shoulders to keep in the warmth.

"Shh, Ran, not so loud. I'm at home." Ugh, her voice sounded terrible. It felt like a badger had thrown up in her mouth.

"Well, you could have told me!", Ran said indignantly, sounding too energetic for someone awake at- Shinichi checked the clock- four in the morning.

"I thought you'd already gone home", Shinichi explained hurriedly, eager to get back to sleep. "Ran, it's really late and-"

"Wasn't KID's heist amazing? Who knew anyone could do tricks like that?"

Shinichi closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose wearily. Amazing? Yes, it was amazing. It was amazing how KID had appeared to levitate from the display case like something from an exorcist movie, but without the added contortions and shrieking. It was amazing how the jewel had inexplicably disappeared from the display case, only to end up in KID's hand moments later. It had been amazing how the lights had started flashing, on and off, on and off, until they were going so fast they looked like strobe lights, making KID seem almost demonic as she laughed her victory.

It had been amazing how fast she had disappeared when Shinichi had used the new adult-sized ball belt Agasa had made her to kick a soccer ball toward the thief.

"Yeah", she said, remembering the momentarily panicked look on KID's face as she had spun out of the way of the missile. "Amazing."

She got the feeling that KID wouldn't be so friendly the next time she saw her.

"Inspector Nakamori wants to speak with you", Ran continued, oblivious to Shinichi's inner turmoil. "He says he knows that he told you not to interfere, but he wants to discuss something with you."

Shinichi remembered the bristling moustache and sighed. "I'll go see him tomorrow", she said reluctantly. Looked like she was in for another angry admonishment.

But really, what was she supposed to do? Let KID get away with the jewel? Watch meekly on the side lines as the thief laughed manically while taunting the law?

Amazing though the thief was, that was not her style.

She let her lips curve up into a smile. She had to admit, the heist had been fun, although she could have used a little more mystery to keep her occupied. The netting had been simple to figure out, seeing as she'd read about the renovations a few weeks back in the papers, and all the rest could have been done with a remote control or a timer for the lights, and a winch and harness of some kind for the levitation.

But the thief had been fun to talk to, in a weird way. Taunting, maybe, irritating, definitely, but she had felt a silly kind of pride when being correct on KID's trick. Plus, she felt that under that teasing outer tone was something more intelligent. After all, you would have to be someone very intelligent to pull something like that off.

Very intelligent, or just very cocky?

Shinichi wondered which it was.

She said her goodbyes to Ran and hung up the phone. She sighed and sat back in bed, rubbing her eyes. She wouldn't have to get up for school in a few hours yet, which meant that she could probably fit in a few hours more of sleep. She closed her eyes and pulled her duvet up, snuggling into the warmth-

There was a crash from next door.

Shinichi groaned and opened her eyes. She glared at the wall heatedly, willing Kaito to just shut up already-

Another crash, followed by an odd metallic clanking, had her gritting her teeth so hard they creaked. Shinichi heaved herself from the bed angrily, then paused as she realized that the sound had come from outside. Still on Kaito's side of the building, but nevertheless outside. Curious, Shinichi walked across the carpet and opened the curtains over the sliding door that led to her balcony. Moonlight lit up her room, bathing it in pale light and turning it a million shades of grey. She stepped out of her room onto the balcony, looking out to Kaito's side.

It took her a moment to register what she was seeing.

KID was struggling against something big and white that trapped her against the balcony railings. She grunted, fiddling with a harness attaching her to the clanking object. It took Shinichi a moment to realize that it was in fact a mangled hanglider, the metal skeleton visible under the white material.

KID slowed and then paused in her struggles, frowning to herself, then whipped her head around to face Shinichi. They stared at each other for a few seconds, shocked blue eyes meeting terrified violet.

It was KID who broke the silence. "Uh... hi!", she said cheerily, her voice somewhat strangled. "Don't mind me. Just... passing by."

Shinichi stared at her, rooted to the spot and feeling the hysterical urge to laugh. Never in her life could she have predicted something as ridiculous as this happening.

What was that phrase? Speak of the devil and he will appear?

Or in this case, 'she'...

KID was still staring at her, half-shadowed face doom-laden. She really had pretty eyes, Shinichi noticed absently. A mix of blue and purple, although that may have just been the lighting-

She should probably say something now.

Finally, Shinichi said, "It's late, and I have to get up for school soon. Do you mind keeping the noise down?"

KID blinked at her, looking like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an approaching car. "... Sure. Sorry", she said, speaking very carefully and slowly, as though some spell might be broken if she raised her voice.

"Thank you", Shinichi said graciously. She turned and walked back into her apartment, closing the door behind her and drawing the curtains shut. She got back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

_I didn't just see that_, she decided, staring up at the ceiling. She ignored the somewhat more muted clanks of KID detangling herself from the balcony and opening her own sliding door. Shinichi closed her eyes to sleep only when the heard the other balcony door click shut.

* * *

A/N

I'm gonna pretend that it's still December and I accomplished my goal of publishing a chapter at Christmas... *hides under my duvet and lives in denial*

Well! I wish you all a very late Merry Christmas and a slightly less late happy New Year! May everyone's 2015 be filled with happiness and cookies :D

Mochiyakissu- Thanks! I'm glad you like the way I write the characters, I was worried I was making Shinichi too cold :P I really like Ran too, she's one of my favourite characters although I think that Gosho Aoyama makes her a little too perfect at times, like a good little girlfriend. I like her sweet character though and the way she's actually quite strong despite her kindness :)

Thanks for reading! Please do this poor little author a favour and review ^.^


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